PRAGUE -- Around 250,000 Czechs attended a rally against Prime Minister Andrej Babis on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the country’s Velvet Revolution.
Protesters from across the Czech Republic joined the November 16 demonstration, the second massive protest opposing Babis at Prague’s Letna park.
Many waved Czech and EU flags.
The demonstrators believe the populist billionaire is a threat to democracy in the country. The 64-year-old Babis is facing accusations of fraud and conflicts of interest.
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Babis, who is also the subject of an EU conflict-of-interest investigation, denies any wrongdoing and say there's no reason for him to resign.
The speakers at the protest, including former dissidents who spoke at the 1989 rallies, said Babis and President Milos Zeman were unfit for office.
The organizers of the protests, a group called A Million Moments for Democracy, put the number of protesters at 300,000, while the police estimated the crowd at about 200,000.
"First and foremost, we want politicians who respect democratic principles and institutions, who do not lie, do not embezzle, do not intimidate, and do not have conflicts of interest,” the chairman of the group, Mikulas Minar, said at the protest rally.